


The Circus Songs Just Carried On

by lionlannister



Category: Avengers (Comic), Marvel, Young Avengers
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, mentions of sexual abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-07
Updated: 2012-07-17
Packaged: 2017-11-01 14:34:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/357919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionlannister/pseuds/lionlannister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU in which Clint Barton never left the circus and Kate Bishop never found her way to the Young Avengers, instead she ran off and stumbled into the same circus where Clint was living and working.<br/>Will become explicit in later chapters</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She looked like a wet rat, skinny and dirty, dead on her feet and about to pass out where she stood. It had been raining for two days straight and she was shivering from the cold and damp that invaded her bones. It had been an hour since she wandered her way into the circle of trailers that surrounded the site of the circus. Clint had been the one to see her first and he had taken her directly to his boss.

"Get her fed and dry, Barton. After that see if she has any skills we could use, if not send her on her way. We don't have room for any stragglers." That was how he found himself sitting across from a teenage girl in his trailer, while she shoveled food into her mouth. 

She couldn't be more then sixteen years old and looked like a runaway. Older then him when he left but still far to young to be out on her own like this. "You have a name?" Tired eyes shot up from the sandwich in her hands and nodded but waited before answering.

"Kate Bishop, and thank you for the food and the dry clothes." Their eyes met and he smiled softly. Clint's sweater and sweat pants engulfed her but it was far better then the soaking wet jeans and t-shirt she had been wearing when he saw her. Her smile mirrored his own, small and unsure as she went back to eating. 

Standing, he moved and got her a glass of water. "It's nice to meet you Kate, I'm Clint Barton," He would have held out his hand for her to shake but considering she was wearing his clothes and eating his food he assumed they were already past that stage. "You want to tell me why you wandered into a circus site at two am in the pouring rain?" No part of him thought she would answer, everything about her reminded of him when he ran off with his brother.

There was something in the way that she carried herself, curved inward until she was spoken to, that made him think that might not be the only thing they had in common. "Um, just, shit. I'll leave as soon as it stops raining or whenever you need me too." 

"No, you can stay with us until you know where you are going. I will have to put you to work though, like the boss said, we can't have stragglers. You can sleep here tonight." He stood up and opened the small door that separated his bed from the rest of the trailer he called home. A compound bow hung from the wall beside his bed a quiver of arrows was beside it.

Her eyes followed him with quick, darting, movements and a nervous look in her eyes. With shaking legs she stood and moved slowly to the bed. When she sat down, her hands started to slowly take off her shirt. "Woah, woah. Let me, like, get out of here first kid," he laughed and Kate moved her hands back down with a sharp look in her eyes.

"You mean, you aren't going to sleep with me?" Her tone was questioning but she didn't look away from him or take her hands off the hem of the sweater. 

Without meaning too, Clint took a step away from her almost looking away with a shocked noise. "What? No! Of course not. You couldn't be more then seventeen years old, you don't know me. I would never," He ran a hand through his short hair and shook his head, he knew what it meant that she thought that. "no, Kate. I'll sleep on the couch. Bed is yours." 

Sunlight woke him the next morning, he groaned against it and rolled away. His back hit the floor with a loud thump and a yelp escaped from his mouth. "Shit, fuck. Ow." Sitting up with a sigh, Clint looked into the small bedroom and found Kate curled up and completely covered in blankets. The steady rise and fall of the mount of blankets told him she was still asleep. 

It took the sound and smell of the coffee maker to wake her up, and even then she remained on the back edge of his bed. Legs pressed to her chest as she watched him move around and get himself ready for the day. She thanked him when he handed her a cup of coffee, made as she had asked. "You don't have to help me, I've been fine on my own," she told him, her voice petulant and so very young. 

He took a moment before answering, trying to weigh his choices of how to respond. "Yeah, I'm sure you would have been. Any idea where you are headed?" He didn't tell her that he was helping her because the second he saw her his mind had been assaulted by memories. Images of himself and his brother, sneaking into the circus camp late at night and stealing food until they got caught. He'd gotten a black eye for that, but the punch had tasted sweet because it came with an offer of a new home. As much as it could be called a home at least, they moved every two weeks or so and people came and went with little warning.

The silence stretched between them as she drank the coffee and avoided his eyes. That had been his answer when The Swordsman had asked him the same question, silence and a refusal to accept that he need help."I just wanted to get away but my money ran out a few weeks ago, so I had to find other ways to pay to get around," her grip on her legs grew tighter and he nodded. "I won't be a waste of space Mr. Barton, I can work." Clint believed her, she looked strong and she could clearly handle herself. 

"I can find something for you to do. It will probably be shitty manual labor or just helping people out. My first job here was shoveling elephant dung, hopefully you can avoid that one." She laughed at that, her body uncurling slightly. His body relaxed as she did, a smile crept its way onto his face. Those days may have been filled with elephant shit and exhaustion but he was happy, for possibly the first time in his life. Clint would do what he could to make sure Kate got at least a fraction of that. 

With a nod, she stood up and pulled on the ruined shoes that she had worn into camp the night before. "So, what do you do now? Like a lion tamer or something?" her voice transformed, becoming light and much more like that of a young woman then a runaway. When she faced him he got a better look at her then he had last night, she had been covered in dirt and rain water. There was a bruise on her left cheek and dark, finger shaped, marks on her lower arm. 

The clothing she wore, more of his, dwarfed her small frame and made her look even younger than she actually was. He nodded and pointed to the bow and arrow set hanging on the wall. "I'm a marksman, best in the world." That was something he was proud of and it was easy to see that, he made himself visibly taller and smirked when he said it. It was something he had but endless amounts of work into, spending night after night in the makeshift range the circus had. 

She took a cocky stance and stared at him, eyes sharp and her mouth carved into a mischievous smile. Though she only came up to his shoulder, Clint felt as though they were on equal footing in that moment. "Maybe you could teach me? It could be a handy skill to have." Something in her voice and eyes told him she was not being totally honest with him, but he would find out soon enough.

"I could arrange that. Wait, Kate, how old are you? Don't lie to me either, the boss won't hire you if he think you are underage but I can keep a secret." He'd learned to keep secrets a long time ago, when it was either keep his mouth shut or not be able to open it for a few days. 

She worried her lower lip and looked away from him. "Seventeen, I'm seventeen. Please, don't take me to the police or anything. I can't go home Clint, I just can't." Her conviction did not surprise him, nor did the suddenly shift in her body language. Ready to bolt if she so much as thought he would turn her in.

"I was thirteen, when my brother and I ran away and found this place. Well, we were in Iowa not New York but we found this circus. Old boss didn't care nearly as much about child working laws." 

This was not the answer she had expected evidently, if the look of surprise on her face was any indication. "Oh, I didn't know that. I just thought maybe you had joined up or something. Your brother?"

He shook his head slowly, choosing not to answer the question about his older brother. That wasn't something he was willing to discuss with a girl he hardly knew. "Not important. Come on, I'll find something for you to do today and tonight we can talk to the bossman."


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't hard to find some way to keep her busy for the day, someone was always in need of an extra pair of hands. Kate helped the young man that set up the tightwires and fed the elephants while he practiced for the show the next day. When he found her later that night she was nearly asleep on her feet in front of a group of jugglers that were practicing. "Kate, I spoke to Tuck, my boss, and he said that as long as you work. You can stay here. But, I need to warn you."

It was a short walk back to his trailer, which would continue to be hers for now, he didn't want to discuss this in public so he lead her over to the privacy of his home. "When I was sixteen I was chosen by a man named The Swordsman, he wanted to train me. I mentioned my brother earlier, told you he wasn't around anymore. This is why." Her eyes kept their hold on his, even though he wanted to look away and not talk about this anymore. Clint refused to be responsible for someone getting into this life when they didn't know what could happen to them. 

"Barney was jealous, so jealous, and he hated me for getting chosen. Like I had somehow made The Swordsman pick me. One day, I found out The Swordsman had been stealing from the circus, taking money from the lockbox and using it for himself, embezzling, shit like that," He stopped speaking suddenly and stood up grabbed a beer out of the small fridge he kept. It had been a long time since he had talked about this. Talked about why there was a scar down the length of his entire right leg, why both of his legs had been broken when he was the same age she was now. His laughter was harsh and broken when he sat back down next to her. "We had been so close before, brothers against the world. Barney and I, we looked after each other, we had to. No one else was."

Thankfully, she didn't try and comfort him. Only watched and pulled her legs closer to her chest. His gaze was locked onto the can in his hands, not trusting himself to look at her without her seeing how much he didn't want to talk about this. "When I tried to turn The Swordsman in he attacked me. I was good, good with a sword, good with a bow, good with anything I could get my hands on. But not as good as he was." Kate was slowly unfurling herself, growing more comfortable in his presence and he took that as a sign that he needed to continue. She didn't know that she could trust him and he wanted to prove that she could, even if that meant telling her things he hadn't told anyone. This girl was not going to end up like him, on the losing side of trust and loyalty. 

"You don't have to tell me Clint, you've done enough." But he hadn't, not nearly enough to make sure that what happened to him wouldn't happen to her. They already had far to much in common, having your life ruined by the circus was not something else he wanted to add to the list. She was young, smart and beautiful. She deserved so much better then this.

Without looking at her, he reached down and rolled up the leg of his jeans. The scar was long, running from his ankle up to the middle of his thigh. It was one smooth line, not jagged or shaking, The Swordsman had wanted to prove what he was capable of doing anything. Proving that Clint was just a worthless child that could never be as good as him, so he had cut a perfect line up the length of his leg, never moving from his path even when Clint squirmed and screamed. 

"My brother is the one that found me, I was nearly unconscious from bloodloss and I couldn't walk. He kicked my leg as hard as he could and called me a 'traitor to my family'. I blacked out after that and I woke up in the hospital." That was all he planned on telling her, there was another large part of the story but he wasn't up for telling it tonight. 

They sat in silent for a few minutes, though it felt far longer to him. Finally, she spoke to him. "I understand, I'll be careful. Thank you Clint." Now that he had done what he set out to do Clint wasn't sure what to do with himself, he didn't want to stay in the trailer. 

He stood up and grabbed his jacket off the couch beside him. "Get some sleep, Kate. I'll see you in the morning." Without waiting for her to answer him, he left her alone, his bow slung across his chest and arrows in his hand. 

The small archery range was right next to his trailer. Since he was really the only one that used it the range was primarily his responsibility. He fired arrow after arrow into the target each one hitting the bullseye. "Was that your way of saying that I shouldn't stay? That I should get out now?" Her voice was coming from behind him, the fact that he hadn't heard her approach was sign of his emotional state. 

He didn't face her, pulling another arrow out of the quiver and raising it to his eye. "No, only you can make that decision for yourself Kate. I just wanted you to know that this isn't always a fun or easy life. Things go really wrong sometimes," The arrow flew into the bullseye, buried among the dozen or so others that were already there. "you are an adult, you can make your own decision about what you do with your life. I understand that you can't go home, trust me, I understand."

There was no noise except the sound of his bow and the arrows hitting the target. He could feel her presence behind him but she seemed content to sit silently, mulling over what he had said. Kate would make up her own mind on this, she didn't need anyone to tell her how she should live her life. She stayed with him until he ran out of arrows, silent and thinking while he did everything in his power to stop thinking. Shooting cleared his head, it was something he could do without trying and always made him happy. 

They silently walked back to his trailer. She held his quiver of arrows, he gripped the bow with a white-knuckle grip.


	3. Chapter 3

When he woke up the next morning, she had taken the couch that night, she was still fast asleep. Clint did not think she would still be there. Assuming she would have left sometime during the night, or at least tried to find somewhere else to go. A reluctant smile found its way onto his face when he saw her sleeping. She was less guarded in his sleep, steady breathing and no walls up. Clint quickly got ready for the day, made them both coffee and then went about arranging his things for the show that night. 

That became their routine. Whoever woke up first, which was usually him, made coffee and then they both did whatever needed to be done that day. She did odd jobs around the camp, helping whoever needed help. Making friends with most of them but never letting them get to close. As the days went by he learned more about her in bits and pieces, taking whatever knowledge she gave him and locking it away. She watched the shows, sold tickets or ran games while he shot apples off of peoples heads. 

They never got her another trailer, she stayed with him and they took turns sleeping on the bed or the couch. They both came and went as they pleased, neither keeping track of the other. So when he didn't come back one night she went to sleep as usual and when he came back the next morning with bloodshot eyes and a split lip she laughed and handed him an aspirin. Everyone was careful around him that day, they didn't speak to him unless it was absolutely necessary. Kate knew that if she asked him he would tell her what was wrong, asking someone else would probably give her answer but it felt wrong to speak to anyone else about it.

It wasn't until they were back in the trailer that night, after she had stolen one of his beers and he had resurfaced from the shooting range, that she manged to ask him. She was sitting on the couch reading a book she bought in the last town they had stopped in. The alcohol was making her mind slightly fuzzy but she would have asked him anyway. "So, do you want to tell me why everyone was afraid to talk to you today?" He glared at her sharply and she thought that he wouldn't answer her.

Sighing, he rubbed his eyes with one hand and took a seat next to her. "I told you about The Swordsman. I didn't tell you about Trick Shot and I don't really want to do it right now. But today is the day where I almost killed my brother and the day my second mentor tired to kill me." That was it, that was all he said and all he planned on saying about it that night. 

"Woah, you have really shitty luck with father figures." He snorted instead of laughed but didn't try and disagree with her. 

"You're too young to drink." Clint grabbed another beer from the fridge and took a drink of it, not actually stopping her from drinking. They had developed an easy friendship in the weeks since she had first appeared, neither pressed the other for more details on their pasts. They got along well, their was never an awkward silence between them. 

She would blame the alcohol in the morning for what she did next, but if she was being honest it was something she had wanted for a while. She had to crane her neck awkwardly for her lips to touch his. Clint pulled away from her after only a second, his shifting between hers and her lips. "Kate, you're seventeen." His hand on her cheek detracted from his point slightly. They had both turned to look at one another, the distance between them was small but felt substantial after their kiss. 

She kissed him again, this time he didn't pull away as quickly. The hand he had placed on her cheek moved down to her waist, his fingers pulling her closer to his body. When she moved her legs to straddle his waist he groaned against her lips she took the opportunity to slip her tongue between his lips. His resilience not to let this go any further was stopped when she pushed her fingers into his hair and tugged at it. They both pulled away at the same time, their need for air over powered their desire for one another. 

His arms wound themselves around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. "Kate..."

"Shut the fuck up Clint." Her kiss was hard, lips hot on his as she rolled her hips into his to make him stop talking. Kate bit his lower lip, just hard enough to drag a moan out of him. He pushed his hands into her shirt, rubbing circles into her hips and growing harder at the the feel of her soft skin under his calloused fingers. He felt a scar on her ribs, something jagged and raised that he hadn't noticed before. That made him stop, stop kissing her, stop touching her, stop moving.

She was so young and had gone through so much shit, he didn't want to be another asshole that took advantege of her. "Wait, wait. Kate, please. Look at me," She did. Her lips were bruised and eyes darkened with lust, but even then, she still looked far too young. "I. I can't. I'm sorry Kate." He lifted her by her hips and put put her gently on the couch beside him. 

"Why not? I'm not a virgin if that is what you are worried about." She tried to meet his gaze but he covered his face in his hands, afraid to look at her. They both felt cold without a body against theirs. Kate narrowed her eyes at him and watched his careful movements, he stood and ran a hand through his hair before looking at her again.

He shook his head slightly, all of his energy drained away. "It's not that, well, maybe it is kind of that. But. You're seventeen and I don't want to be another guy that uses you. Don't lie to me, I know what it's like to be abused and destroyed by people." 

She laughed at him, a harsh noise that sounded wrong coming from someone so young. "If I didn't want you, why did I kiss you? No one is forcing me into this Clint. For one of the first times in my life, I get to choose who I want to be with. What I want to do." Her hands gripped the edge of the couch tightly, he could feel her growing anger and frustration, all of it was directed at him.

He kneeled down in front of her and kissed her softly, only a ghost of their previous kiss. "I don't deserve that. I've done bad things, Kate. I've fucked up more times than I care to explain."

Fingers gripped his shirt tightly and shook him, hard, until he fell on his ass. "You idiot, you think I care about that? I'm not a child, I know what I want. You didn't force me to have sex with you, I decided to, because I wanted you." He thought she would slap him then, instead she leaned down and kissed him. Hard. When she pulled away, his pupils were dilated and he had all but lost his ability to move. 

Kate left him there, laying on the ground and trying to find what to say next. Before closing the door that led to the bedroom she looked at him again, her eyes drilling into his with promises. "My birthday is next week."

"Fuck."


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Clint did everything in his power not to be alone with her, made coffee in the morning and took off before she woke up. They had to pack up that day, the circus was moving on the next morning so Clint spent all day making sure he had all of his things together and Kate was busy helping anyone that required assistance. When it was late and they both found their way back to the trailer, Clint cleared his throat and looked at her. 

"So, your birthday. What day is it?" She smiled at him above the rim of her glass, a sly smile that did not help his decision to wait. 

"Subtlety really isn't your strong suit, is it Barton? And, it is on Tuesday," She stood up and walked to him, their bodies a fraction of an inch from touching. "think you can wait three days?" Her fingers traced feather light touches down his arms and he had to bit his lip to stop from reaching for her.

"There is a lot you don't know about me girly-girl," Clint leaned over her and captured her lips with his own, barely giving her time to think before nibbled on her lower lip and pulled away. With his hands on her hips, he moved her away slightly so that he could go into the bedroom. "My turn in the bed, have fun on the couch." 

The next morning he woke up to find her already gone, there was coffee made and she had put the couch up to its usual state. That wasn't out of the ordinary, one night she had gone out with some of the other younger people that worked and came back with a massive hangover the next morning. 

When Clint came back after working all on building a new set of stands, Kate was asleep in the bed. Completely curled up and covered in a mound of blankets. He planned on grabbing his bow and leaving her alone until he heard a noise from under the mountain of blankets. She was shuffling around and making strangled noises. He knew that sound well, it was the sound of a nightmare that just wouldn't let go. 

He moved closer to the bed, putting his hand on her shoulder and trying to shake her lightly. He knew from experience that if he jolted her it would only make things worse. "Kate. You're safe," When she didn't wake up, or show any signs of escaping her nightmare he climbed into the bed beside her. She subconsciously pulled her body away from his, almost falling off the bed in an effort to distance herself. 

"No, please. Stop it. Just stop. No!" She screamed out in her sleep and swung her arms, as if to hit him. Clint reached out and carefully gripped her wrists, with the minimum amount of pressure needed to stop her from hurting either of them. 

"It's okay, no one is going to hurt you. You're safe," She shook again, one shuddering breath and attempt to push him away before she opened her eyes and registered who he was. She was breathing heavily for a few minutes after she woke up. Kate didn't make a move to get closer or further away from him, just sat completely still."are you alright? Do you want some water or anything?"

The head shake she gave him in response was so small he almost missed it. "N-no, thanks," She didn't offer him anything about the nightmare and he had no intention of pressing her on it, if she wanted to talk to him than he would be there. "Just stay here, yeah?" Her eyes went to his face, behind the fear currently permeating her eyes he could see the strength that followed her every day. 

"Yes, of course. I'm not going anywhere." There had very rarely been someone with him when he woke up screaming and most of the time they had just left him alone to get over it, it was good to have someone there. Clint pulled off his boots and leaned against the pillows of the bed, watching her but not driving for any explanation. 

Kate pushed herself closer to him, not touching but close enough to feel the warmth coming from his body. "I went into the shopping part of the town, needed to get some things. There was this guy, he was just an asshole, tried to hit on me and all that shit." She wasn't looking at him as she spoke, staring at the wall across from them as if reliving some moment in her life. He fought the urge to wrap his arm around her shoulder, not sure if touching her would only make it worse.

Listening to her only increased his rage, it took everything in his power not to go out and find the guy that made this happen and kill him. Kate wouldn't appreciate that, she didn't need him to protect her, she was more than capable of doing it herself. "It was nothing out of the ordinary really, but he grabbed my arm when I tried to walk away from him." She stopped talking and laughed, a shallow laugh and rubbed a spot on her arm.  
"Did you hurt him?" He smiled at her and pictured her throwing a punch at some jackass that dared touch her without permission. 

Kate nodded and showed him the bruises on her knuckles. "Punched him in the face and then ran off. Didn't even get what I went shopping for." He didn't ask about the nightmare, and she didn't tell him. It didn't take much guessing to figure out what she had been screaming about. Slowly, he reached out and ran one finer over her scrapped knuckles. When she didn't tense or move away from his touch he inched closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, making sure that she was okay with the physical contact.

She didn't fall into him but she did relax under the weight of his arm and looked up at him for the first time. "You can go back to sleep if you want, Kate. I'm not going anywhere." His hand ran lazy lines down her arm as she slowly fell back to sleep. This time her dreams seemed quieter and Clint quickly fell asleep beside her.


End file.
